In this 7-hour course, you will learn everything a player needs to know to jump-start your understanding of Closed Catalan for Black including piece placement, pawn structures, key plans, maneuvers, setups, and ideas.
Catalan – The System for Black with IM Andrey Ostrovskiy
Do you know of a single opening that allows winning with black pieces, with a minimum risk and no need to reinvent the wheel? The truth is… there aren’t many openings like that.
Closed Catalan is an exceptional opening that fits the description.
It is one of the best opening systems for Black because it’s very solid, with limitless ways of achieving the key positions, and high chances for a win. Yet, it’s easy to learn and start playing right away. Catalan is especially effective against club level players because they don’t have a well-developed sense of danger and treat all closed positions as quiet, boring and positional.
Well, if so, they should be ready for a big surprise!
Closed Catalan System is a tricky opening in a way that it implements a passive approach at a first glance and then switches gears and becomes very dynamic.
Black’s passive pieces quickly gain momentum and start exerting enormous pressure on White’s position. The majority of players aren’t ready for that, either mentally or positionally, and that’s how black gets a huge edge!
IM Andrey Ostrovskiy has mastered Closed Catalan System, played and perfected it for many years. He applied the system with great success against all sorts of players from the club level to International Masters and even Grandmasters. That’s why Andrei recommends you to play the Closed Catalan as black and he is certain that after studying this course you will repeat his success!
In this 7-hour course, you will learn everything a player needs to know to jump-start your understanding of Closed Catalan for Black including piece placement, pawn structures, key plans, maneuvers, setups, and ideas.
What to expect?
After going through the course and playing some practice games, Closed Catalan setups will become second nature to you, leading to a dramatic improvement of your results with black pieces. You will face your opponent confidently, taking the stress off your games and knowing that you’re backed up with a Pro-level repertoire. Perhaps, black will even become your favorite color to play with.
Leave all the uncertainty and worrying to your opponent. With this system, you are there to collect your win!
Contents:
- INTRO Introduction
- CHAPTER 1 Main ideas & minor lines: 7.cd, 7.Ne5, 7.Qb3
- CHAPTER 2 Queen remains on d1: 7.Nc3 – Ne5(d2) – e4
- CHAPTER 3 Queen remains on d1: 7.b3 – Bb2 – Nbd2(c3)
- CHAPTER 4 Queen goes to c2: 7.Qc2 – Bf4 – Nbd2
- CHAPTER 5 Queen goes to c2: 7.Qc2 – Rd1
- CHAPTER 6 Queen goes to c2: 7.Qc2 – b3 – Nc3
- CHAPTER 7 Queen goes to c2: 7.Qc2 – Nbd2
- CHAPTER 8 Main ideas & 11.a4
- CHAPTER 9 Main direction: 11.Bf4 – Nbd2
- CHAPTER 10 Main direction: 11.Bf4 – Nc3
- CHAPTER 11 Passive-aggressive: 9.Bf4 – cd
- PGNS All games and variation are enclosed
IM Andrey Ostrovskiy (FIDE 2456)
is a professional chess player and coach currently residing in Germany. Andrey got second in Ukrainian Youth Championship and represented his country in the European Championship. He has won many National and International events and achieved his first Grandmaster norm in 2015.
